The Secretary-General will travel to Lisbon, Portugal, this weekend, where he will attend the high-level meeting on Afghanistan, to be held under the aegis of NATO. He will also participate in the joint press conference with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and hold several bilateral meetings with world leaders gathered in Lisbon.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The Secretary-General called Daw Aung San Suu Kyi today to personally greet her following her long-awaited release from detention. He reiterated his commitment and that of the United Nations to uphold the cause of human rights and support all efforts by the Government, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all other stakeholders to build a united, peaceful, democratic and modern Myanmar.
Addressing the Security Council today in its meeting on Sudan the Secretary-General said that he remains concerned by delays in the preparations for the referendums, partly resulting from considerable national funding shortfalls, and calls for all remaining obstacles to be removed so that the Referendum Commission can take key decisions without delay.
Ibrahim Gambari, the Joint Special Representative of the UN-African Union mission in Darfur, expressed deep concern at renewed violence between the Government of Sudan and the armed movements, most notably the Justice and Liberation Movement (JEM) and the Sudanese Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid (SLA-AW) faction.
The Secretary-General welcomes the agreement of the Government formation process in Iraq which represents a major step forward in the country’s democratic process. He commends all political parties and their leaders for reaching a compromise that will serve the collective interest of the Iraqi people.
The Secretary-General attended an event on the Millennium Development Goals at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, and he appealed to the leadership of the Korean Government to push forward on the implementation of those Goals. By doing so, he said, the Republic of Korea can show its commitment to protect the human rights of the vulnerable.
The Secretary-General spoke to reporters in Seoul in advance of the Group of 20 (G-20) Summit that is to take place there, saying he will do his best to ensure that the leaders of the world’s biggest and strongest economies build solutions for the poorest and the most vulnerable people around the world into their plans.
The Secretary-General is on his way to Seoul, where he will arrive tomorrow morning. He will also give a press conference tomorrow to discuss his priorities ahead of the G-20 Summit.
The Secretary-General has been following with great attention the elections held in Myanmar yesterday. The voting was held in conditions that were insufficiently inclusive, participatory and transparent.
The Secretary-General today received the final report of the High-Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing. He said the options identified in the report are both financially feasible and politically viable, and the Advisory Group has given us a path — it is now up to Governments to consider the options and to act.